OT XII [C] Zec 12:10-11, 13: 1; Gal 3:26-29; Lk 9:18-24 

When Jesus was praying with his disciples he felt like he should check his disciples’ knowledge of who he was. Realizing that if his disciples did not know who he really was, his entire ministry, suffering and death would be useless. Hence, he decided to ask a question in two parts.

He first asked them about what people thought about him and then he asked them what they thought about him. Recognizing that they did not have a right understanding of him, he reveals to them who he was. He told them he is the one who was prophesied, the one who will be pierced to death as mentioned in the first reading in Zachariah. He stresses his need of suffering and death on the cross.

He then lays down the conditions of service for those who would follow Him. He says, "If anyone wishes to come after me, [then] he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me."  He affirms, explicitly and uncompromisingly, that all his followers must  “take up the cross”; we must accept suffering in this life.

The Church has decreed that above each of her altars there should be a crucifix. The crucifix is a depiction of humiliation, torture, pain, and death.  Why such pride of place for such a cruel reality? Christ dying on the cross was the perfect sacrifice offered to God in loving atonement for our sins and the sins of all people (2Cor 5:15). 

With his arms stretched wide and raised between heaven and earth, Christ reconciled us to God and bridged the gulf opened by sin. If we want to go over that bridge and make our way to eternal life in communion with God, which is the only thing that can make us truly happy, we too must pass through the cross. We must follow the footsteps of our Lord: suffering, self-denial, opposition, humiliation, and difficulty. We may even have to lose the “whole world”, like so many saints and martyrs, in order to gain the truly abundant “life.” Many prosperity preachers of the day speak against the place of suffering in life. They say God wants to bless you with worldly riches in this life and he does not want you to suffer at all in this life. Suffering is undesirable they say. This is not what Jesus says when he says to follow him taking up his cross.

Suffering, when we bear it with faith and unite it to Christ's suffering, is like the oven that cooks saints, the fire that purifies our hearts of selfishness.

This helps explain why euthanasia is so wrong. Euthanasia is also sometimes called mercy-killing, or dying with dignity. Human euthanasia is legal in the Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, Colombia, and Luxembourg. Assisted suicide is legal in Switzerland, Germany, Japan, Albania, Canada, and in the US, states of Washington, Oregon, Vermont, Montana, and California. The Catechism makes very clear that it is always an evil act: "Whatever its motives and means, direct euthanasia consists in putting an end to the lives of handicapped, sick, or dying persons. It is morally unacceptable" (#2277).

The Catechism also makes clear that: "Discontinuing medical procedures that are burdensome, dangerous, extraordinary, or disproportionate to the expected outcome can be legitimate; it is the refusal of ‘over-zealous’ treatment. “Here one does not will to cause death; one's inability to impede it is merely accepted" (#2278). In some situations, drawing the line between normal and over-zealous treatment is difficult. At those times, we need to get good advice, pray, and trust that God will guide us. But the main point is clear: suffering, even terrible suffering, does not take away the value or dignity of a human life. Suffering is part of life in a fallen world.

God allows it and uses it to teach us wisdom, compassion, patience, humility, and many other things, and to let us participate in his cross.  It's different for animals. They are not created in the image and likeness of God. They are not able to know, love, and praise God in this life and enjoy him forever in the next. That's why it's perfectly acceptable to put an animal to death when its physical condition has made its life useless or unbearable.

A human life is never useless, and Christ has made sure that, united to him by faith, no amount of pain will ever become unbearable. To die with dignity means to live with dignity for as long as God, the author of life and creator of every human being, wishes to keep us on this earth, whether in comfort or in pain

The cross, when we carry it with Christ, is like a stopwatch in the hands of an expert coach: it pushes us out of our comfort zone so that we can develop our spiritual potential to the full.

The great St. Augustine put it clearly: “There is more courage in a man who faces rather than flees the storms of life, and who holds cheap the opinion of men...

Are we ready to take up our crosses and follow Jesus? Do we have enough Faith to offer up a genuine sacrifice for Christ's sake? A true disciple asks, "Am I willing to sacrifice something for the Kingdom?"  Today let’s ask the Lord for the grace to deepen our Christian life by following the way of Jesus to the Cross and victory.